A. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to brush-type systems for attracting and retaining high volumes of fluid for subsequent usage; and, more particularly, to such a system including: i) a base member; ii) a plurality of closely spaced, generally parallel, flexible bristles secured to and extending from the base member; and at least one, and preferably both, of iii), a hollow tubular sleeve surrounding and closely spaced from the plurality of bristles, with one end of the sleeve affixed to the base member and the opposite end of the sleeve terminating short of the free ends of the bristles so that the free ends of the bristles project slightly beyond the free open end of the sleeve: and/or iv), a plurality of longitudinally extending, radial flutes formed on each bristle for increasing the surface area thereof and the volume of space between adjacent bristles, whereby when the bristles are inserted into a fluid body, fluid is attracted by capillary action and is retained between the bristles in the regions of the radial flutes when provided, and/or in the annular space between the inner surface of the sleeve, when provided, and the bristles most proximate thereto, thereby maximizing the quantity of fluid that can be attracted by capillary action and retained by surface tension for subsequent usage. The present invention finds particularly advantageous use when employed in a bubble blowing system wherein the base member and bristles are disposed in a hollow tubular configuration of any desired cross sectional shape and are disposed in end-to-end relation with the sleeve surrounding all but the free projecting bristle ends, thereby permitting the user to grasp the base member and project an airstream through the hollow aligned base member and tubular array of bristles--for example, by blowing therethrough--so as to separate a film of bubble blowing solution adhering to the bristles from the bristles and thereby project bubbles from the free projecting bristle ends, which bubbles can be separated from the device either by blowing or movement of the device through the ambient atmosphere. In one specific form of bubble blowing system embodying the present invention, an essentially spillproof container or reservoir for a fluid body--such, for example, as a bubble blowing solution--is provided so as to preclude inadvertent accidental spillage of the fluid, particularly when used by children.
B. Background Art
There has been, for many years, a demand for a wide variety of bubble blowing devices and/or toys ranging, for example, from simple rings to suspend a film of soapy solution which can be separated from the ring by a moving airstream, to complex bubble blowing guns and/or similar toys and devices employing, for example, aerosol spray cans for separating the soapy film from a bubble blowing ring and/or complex mechanical arrangements for moving such a ring into and out of a reservoir containing the bubble blowing solution.
Typical of such exemplary prior art patents relating to relatively simple bubble blowing devices are U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,115,556-Little [a tubular cone having a mouthpiece at its apicad end, an internal damper, and a frusto-conical sleeve formed of liquid absorbent material at its large end]; 1,576,287-Larsen [a specially shaped mouthpiece for blowing bubbles]; 1,646,398-Gaffin and 2,711,051-Pick [tubular or conical bubble pipes having outwardly flared prongs at one end of the pipe for holding bubble forming solution]; 2,514,009-Raspet, 3,109,255-Hein, 3,950,887-Kort and 4,447,982-Gushea [bubble blowing devices including rings having specially shaped surfaces for holding films of bubble blowing solution]; 3,443,337-Ehrlich [a bubble pipe having a mouthpiece at one end and a membrane of flexible absorbent material stretched across its opposite end]; and, 3,952,447-Hackell [a bubble blowing device including an annular open topped chamber covered by a radially slotted disc for holding a film of bubble forming solution together with provision for separating the soapy film by blowing air therethrough]. Additionally, Swiss Pat. No. 276,744, issued Apr. 1, 1952, to Hein discloses a bubble blowing toy employing a ring-type device for holding a soapy film; while U.K. Pat. No. 1,509,848 published May 4, 1978, discloses an electromotive bubble projector or gun having a notched tube at its discharge end for holding a film of bubble forming solution.
Other prior art patents of incidental interest, but which do not relate to bubble blowing devices, per se, include U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,617,569-Boyle [a shaving brush having a hollow handle adapted to be coupled to a faucet]; 2,582,552-Marco [a toothbrush having bristle cleaning apertures]; 2,825,080-Bongiovanni [a combination brush and powder dispenser]; 3,589,822-Manuel [a disposable toothbrush]; 4,252,455-de la Pena [a shaving brush adapted to be removably attached to an aerosol can of shaving cream]; and, 4,447,169-Vartoughian [an applicator bottle including a brush attached to the discharge nozzle].
The foregoing exemplary prior art patents apparently represented the then-existing state-of-the-art at the time when John D. Cuccio developed a rather unique brush-type soap gathering and bubble blowing device of the type disclosed and claimed in his aforesaid "related" U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,649 issued Sept. 13, 1988. Thus, the Cuccio device employs a hollow, open-ended, tube or ring-shaped base member having a plurality of closely spaced bristles formed of plastic and oriented in an annular array secured in end-to-end relation with, and comprising an axial extension of, the hollow tubular base member. Cuccio points out that the annular array of bristles can be dipped into a reservoir of soapy bubble forming solution which is drawn up between the bristles by capillary action and retained therebetween until such time as the user blows through the hollow base member, thereby separating a film of soapy bubble forming solution from the bristles and forming a series of bubbles at the remote free ends of the bristles.
While the Cuccio device has proven to be operable and, to a limited extent, successful, at the same time one of the principal claimed advantages of Cuccio's bubble blowing device has, in actuality, proven to be highly disadvantageous. Thus, Cuccio states:
". . . The bristle members (which are stated to be preferably formed of resilient plastic material) may also, if so desired, be flexed or bent as shown in FIG. 3. This action has two advantages. One is to pick up all of the soap solution from the bottom wall of vessel 50-- this not only results in full use of the soap solution but provides the convenience of an empty vessel when the bubble blowing is over. A second advantage of flexing the bristle members is that it varies the spaces 35 between bristle members, thus enabling the capillary action to be varied accordingly." (Col. 3, lines 30-39; See, also, Col. 3, lines 5 and 6)
However, it has now been found that in use, bending of the bristles, particularly when formed of resilient plastic material, is highly disadvantageous because such bending serves to permanently distort the bristles, causing the gaps between adjacent bristles to enlarge to a point where the soapy fluid is not effectively drawn up between the bristles by capillary action and/or is not retained therebetween, thus preventing formation of the continuous films of soapy solution that are necessary to reliably generate bubbles. And, of course, since such devices are principally intended for use by young children, it has been found that the extremely rough usage to which the devices are subjected serves to rapidly destroy the efficacy of the system. Indeed, it has now been found to be highly undesirable to permit flexure of the bristles and highly desirable to insure that the bristles are essentially protected and prevented from engaging any solid surface which can cause bristle flexure and consequent damage of the bristles.